Posted on 08/18/2007 3:25:24 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Last week, I described Gail Collins' condescension to what she sees as the bumpkins of Middle America. The New York Times columnist is back at it again this morning, suggesting that illegal immigration is not so much a problem as an issue exploited by Republican candidates to stir the passions of gullible Republican rubes.
The jumping-off point for Collins' [p.p.v.] Of Mitt, Monks, and Mowers is the criticism Mitt Romney has levelled at Rudy Giuliani for the latter's embrace of New York's status as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants when he was Big Apple mayor. Note that Rudy has since toughened his stance, vowing to end illegal immigration.
In Collins' eyes, telling police and others to ignore the fact that people they encountered in the course of their duties were in the country illegally is "a perfectly rational position."
According to Collins:
If you’ve got hundreds of thousands of undocumented people living in your town, you want them to be willing to report crimes, to go to a doctor if they have a communicable disease, to keep their kids in school and off the street.
Guess what? If police and others were told to report illegals, maybe you wouldn't have "hundreds of thousands" of illegals in your city, with more coming every day knowing there'd be no questions asked.
But for Collins:
“Sanctuary city” is the new “amnesty” — a right-wing buzzword aimed at freaking out the red state voters. There is, of course, the small side effect of making it utterly impossible to have a rational policy-making discussion about a critical national issue. But what the heck. We’re talking Iowa.
What is it with Collins and Iowa? Last week Hawkeye Staters were a bunch of hicks gorging themselves on anything within deep-frying reach. Today they're [to quote Rush] mind-numbed robots, prey to manipulation by cynical politicians. Yeah, why can't Iowans be discerning voters, say like the ones in New York State who elected Eliot Spitzer to clean up government -- by using the state police to spy on political rivals?
Then, in what she admits to being a "cheap shot," Collins, ever the environmentalist, recycles the story of Mitt Romney's contract with a landscaping company that employed illegals. Except that Collins utterly misrepresented the situation, claiming that Romney "hire[d] illegal immigrants." So if the dishwasher in the next fancy restaurant where Collins dines is illegal, she's hired him, too?
Then there's this:
There’s nothing wrong with being worried about the nation’s porous borders, violent criminals who manage to avoid deportation and the massive number of undocumented people living here without any ties to the community. We should have this discussion. Like it or not, we’ve got 14 months of presidential campaign to go. Nobody on the voter side wants to spend it listening to politicians shriek meaningless catchphrases.
Translation: Like all good liberals, I don't really care about this issue. But I suppose you redneck nativists have my permission to care -- just not too much. We can have a "discussion." Say, maybe someone can organize a teach-in on campus. I have a friend at La Raza who can speak!
Concludes Collins:
By the way, doesn’t the term “sanctuary city” sound sort of nice, actually? Remember all those sci-fi movies where the heroes were stuck in a terrible world where everybody but them was a mutant or a pod person or a hologram and their only hope was to reach a legendary and possibly mythical refuge? Next time you hear a politician ranting about a “sanctuary city,” say: “Wasn’t that where Keanu Reeves was trying to get in “The Matrix?”
Note that by her analogy, Collins casts the legal citizens of the United States as the mutants and pod persons, while the illegals are the "heroes." Sums up the liberal position nicely.Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
NY Times colunmnist thinks “sanctuary city” sounds nice. Ping to Today show list.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
When you add up the costs of health care, education, welfare etc. as well as crime caused by illegals such as drunk driving, rape, murder they just aren’t worth it.
The percentage of illegals residing in our jails alone is staggering.
These illegals don’t help the police now. This lady lives in a dream world.
Build the fence.
Well, if they’d deport us all to the same place and then leave us the frack alone....
Elitist jackass.
Sue the sanctuary city. Sue the mayor alone, then sue the city itself for not enforcing federal and state laws.
There are three dead kids and one wounded in Newark who do not share Gail Collins’ enthusiasm for Sanctuary Cities.
“Times Bankruptcy”
That sounds nice to me...
throw the illegal out
I see, so if they don't report a crime, it's SOCIETY'S FAULT!
If they're too stupid to see a doctor when they get a disease, why would this Collins person WANT them here?
I remember reading an article written by another New York snob. In an effort to point out how backward and inferior rural folks are, the writer pointed out that even some rural women regularly wore steel toad boots.
Yup, the NYT is on the skids. Maybe — and hopefully — we’ll be reading (on the internet!) of its demise.
If they have a communicable disease they are a walking time bomb and should be kicked out immediately!
If an illegal with a disease is found, a legal citizen should leave the country for him, and give the illegal diseased-one his or her home and possessions, to make up for those eeeeevil immigration laws.
How did this woman become a columnist without possessing a brain?
"And where are you folks from?" she inquired.
"We're from Iowa" they responded.
"How nice", said the hostess.
"But you know, we pronounce it Ohio."
From her FAT picture she eats well... let’s send the illegals to live and eat with her for a few weeks... and see if her “love” for them sustains. They are ruining South Mississippi... crime and trash everywhere they live... never speak English... crime crime crime crime crime... they are stealing from the people they work for and their subcontractors. Quite a few people are dying from their illegal drunk and unlicensed driving... no insurance... Let her have them all!
LLS
In a few short years, the NYT has turned from the dominant organization in media into a parody of itself. Let Collins preach, in her loudest voice, to the choir. The choir is irrelevant.
“Last week, I described Gail Collins’ condescension to what she sees as the bumpkins of Middle America. The New York Times columnist is back at it again this morning, suggesting that illegal immigration is not so much a problem as an issue exploited by Republican candidates to stir the passions of gullible Republican rubes.”
If that statement is true, then Gail Collins is a certifiable ignoramus. If there has been any issue in recent decades that percolated up from the grass roots to the pols, this was it. A similar bill sailed through the senate in 2006 with Bush’s backing. After the Dems won the House and Senate, all the ‘expert’ commentators aid immigration was the top issue where Bush and the Dems could work together and pass legislation in 2007.
They were on their way to doing just that, but the opposition rose from the grass roots, with talk radio and internet blogs drawing attention to the issue, not as the result of any politicians stirring passions. The same would have happened in 2006, but everyone (well, maybe not Gail Collins) knew amnesty had no chance in the House which had passed a tough enforcement only bill.
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